The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-25
A GREAT WHEAT FAR.
AGRICULTURAL LIFE DIVESTEc)F
ALL CHARM.

Wheat Raising Problem Terselyand
Clearly Considered Possible pitts
From the Average Dakota Farr
From the Nel0 York Times
CAssELToN, OAK, Aug San INDECENT
American wheat growers fully comphend
the problem that the development f the
wheat fields of the Puniab in India prented
to their anxious consideration. TIL great
consuming market for our surplusbread-
stuffs is England. The English vrking-
man is not loudly calling for brei made
from high grade American wheat. lie calls
for bread, and he is careless as to wether it
is snowy white or dark in color. lie does
not care whether the flour out of vich it is
made was from No. hard wheat n No. 4
soft wheat, SO long as the bread whole
some and cheap. That is all he AIS for, as
he, too, is engaged in competitive warfare
which keeps his wages low and lakes his
life hard.
Indian wheat is not high grade dleat, but
it makes wholesome dark bread. t is true
that it costs 10c. per bushel to clea the In
dian wheat preparatory to runnig it be-
tween millstones The Indian trmers do
y
ling their harvested grain with are. The
grain, as it leaves their hands, iydirty and
sandy, and mixed with the seed of weeds
and other grain. But it is alrddy cheaply
grown, and every succeeding arvest year
shows an improvement in it's ordition and
greater economy in its PRODUCTION. The
cost of transportation over To railroads of
India is greater than over ihe American
lines, but when the wheat, witch is destined
for the London market, arrives at the In
dian shipping ports, it mees the cheapest
transportation in the worl-that afforded
by the British tramp steamer.
l firmly believe that vheat will sell in
Chicago for SOC. per buhel inside of the
next four years. Holding this belief, and
having personally seen he great South
western wheat field platered with mort
cages during the first for years of com
petitive warfare which threatens to last for
ever, and realizing that the end of the
American wheat grower)f that region was
close at hand, | have, rhile on this trip,
carefully examined the geat Northwestern
wheat field, which indudes Dakota and
Manitoba. | had red SO much about
the region during the seven years
last past, and atout the remark
ably able management of the so-called
bonanza farms, that Twas surprised to find
that the methods OF cultivation, of har-
vesting, and of management generally, are
inferior to those employed in, say Kansas.
The reputation of tib bonanza farmers has
been wholly made ly the newspaper cor
respondents. The advantages they have
over the cultivator of the Southwestern
fields are, first, a oil and climate that are
more favorable to tie perfect development
of the wheat plant second, freedom from
chinch bugs, which Insects are the curse of
the Southwestern fields; third, cheaper
transportation.
Can the Northwestern wheat grower sue
cessfully meet the Indian competition which
annually grows moe and more severe? That
is hard question to answer. But after a
careful examination into the resources of
the field, answer that | believe he can.
Even if the Indian wheat growers adopt
our methods of cultivation and handling the
crop III ere is figure which represents the
cost of production, below which they can
not go. And the fat that the virgin soil
of the Northwest is the best wheat land as
yet discovered in the world is undisputed.
And | think that the superiority of our SOIL
and the consequent g'eater yield OF higher
grade grain, will ully offset the lower
wages paid to India, workmen.
To the figures. Here is tabulated state
ment of the cost of raising twenty acres of
wheat on the George G.. Howe farm of 200
acres, near this town, which is by far the
most intelligently managed OF all the
bonanza farms:
Seed ............A.. ..................S 1S 90
Four days blowing with gang plow...... s 90
One day harvesting and shocking ....... 70
Irvine. Observation-Disclosures. 90
Hauling wheat, threshing. ......... IS 90
Hauling bundles, tlreshing ............. "A 90
Fifteen extra hands, threshing. 30 90
Total for twenty acres .............. s1O5 rs
Cost of one acre ......................... 5 %
If the yield is twenty bushels per acre it
costs 26c. per bushel. If the yield is twenty
five bushels per acre the cost per bushel will
be 2lc. If the yield is thirty bushels the
cost per bUshel will be lie. The cost of
horse feed, and wear and tear, and all farm
expenses are included in the table of cost,
but interest on the investment is not in
cluded.
This year Mr.. Howe's fields will average
twenty-five bushels per acre. He has in more
favorable years averaged thirty bushels.
These figures | took from his farm account
books, and they fairly represent what can
be done by intelligent management on large
areas of Northern Dakota lands. The cost
of this wheat laid down in New York would
be as follows:
Cents
Cost at farm. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Freight from Casseton to Duluth. ..........1 Is
Freight from Duluth to Buffalo ............ 8
Freight from Buffalo to New York. ........... 8
Elevator charges ...... Observation-Disclosures.
Cost per bushel in New York. .............. 4s
With wheat selling in New York at Coo.
per bushel Dakota farmer of Mr.. Howes
and executive ability could
make profit of l2c. bushel.
Could the cost of production be reduced!
Unhesitatingly | answer, yes. The wheat
growers sell their product in the cheapest
market in the world. Let them buy their
goods there. In other words, do away with
our high protective tariff. and let 81 buy as
many goods as 81 30 does now, and the saw
ing that would thus be effected in the wages
paid to the men employed in growing wheat
(the cost Of growing wheat is almost wholly
represented by wages would greatly reduce
the cost of production. If harvest hands
could be hired for 81 80 per day instead of
So, and corresponding reduction made in
the wages paid to men hired by the month,
1t would reduce the cost of producing wheat
from Is to 20 per cent And If all wages
could be rednced onc-half it would cost from
30 to 40 per cent less to produce it. Under
free trade and labor at 81 per day for harv-
est hands, wheat could be produced on the
plains of Northern Dakota for from 10 to 10
cents per bushel, the cost varying with the
yield. This, of course, on large farms
where there is no more pretense of home
life than there is in a rolling mill or in
cotton factory.
The large farms that are now being oper-
ated along the Northern Pacific and Mani
toba railroads are but infants when com
"a rod 4tst4I IL. - 81 IN hI1f hn